White working-class boys are falling behind their classmates after being let
down by unambitious teachers, according to the education watchdog.

Many schools “limit their ambition” for pupils from deprived backgrounds because they do not believe they can perform as well as other children, said Ofsted.

A culture of low expectations often contributed to poor standards of literacy among large numbers of children at a young age, it was claimed, holding them back throughout compulsory education.

The disclosure came in a report – published today – into why certain groups performed worse than others in reading and writing.

According to figures, one-in-five pupils currently leave primary school without decent standards of English.

But the failure rate among white British boys from the poorest backgrounds rises to 44 per cent – the worst performing group other than those from gypsy and traveller backgrounds. Children in the care of social services also consistently under-perform.

In the latest study, Ofsted inspected education standards at almost 200 nurseries, schools and training providers.

The report said inspectors “did not find any examples of either primary or secondary schools focusing specifically on engaging the families of white working class pupils, despite the fact that this group of pupils is consistently among the worst-performing”.

It added that less successful schools “set their sights too low for children from disadvantaged groups”. The survey focused mainly on pupils eligible for free school meals, children in care and white British boys from low-income households.

“Head teachers sometimes limited their ambition for pupils because they measured success against the average for the pupil group rather than against the national average for all pupils,” the study said.

“If the targets set for pupils from low-income families are below that of their peers, schools are less likely to succeed in narrowing the attainment gap.”

The report also found that many pupils were being held back by a failure to use phonics – the back-to-basics method of teaching pupils to read by breaking words down into individual sounds.

It said there were “few instances of systematic phonics teaching” in secondary schools or colleges, even though it was proved to help pupils struggling the most.

The Coalition has now ordered all state schools to use phonics as the main method of teaching children to read, particularly in the first few years of compulsory education.

Christine Gilbert, the Ofsted chief inspector, said: “Despite some major initiatives in recent years to improve reading and writing, the standards being reached by some groups of children and young people, including those from low-income families, certain ethnic groups and looked after children, still fall far below that of the rest of the population.

“The approaches to literacy that work best are rooted in high expectations, in a systematic and consistent approach with staff well trained to teach literacy and to monitor progress closely. Reports on achievement and progress in literacy should be produced regularly for governing bodies, looking at individual and group performance.”